This is an English translated script. The original script was in French, and contemplated the original script for Beyond Good & Evil, before the Ubisoft decided that it had to be changed.
The original version can be found at http://www.bgemyth.net/visionneuse.php?code=cj_bge1_scenario_alternatif_01
Intro:
Hyllis, a small planet in a corner of the universe. A secret meeting of rebel organization SPOON: “We have lost so many of our members in these last few missions. We haven’t heard from Double H since yesterday, when he went to investigate the Nutripills Factory. The Alpha Sections have taken many. We need to find new volunteers…” A member speaks up. “I think I have an idea; I know someone who might join us…”
The night is black, with lightning and a storm. Jade is illuminated by a flash. She stands at the top of the lighthouse, strong winds battering her, trying to urge the lamp back to life. A large ship is moving dangerously towards the lighthouse, unable to see. Pey’j, Jade’s uncle, wants to come and help—but he slips and falls away. He narrowly catches himself at the edge, precariously perched on the slope. Jade abandons what she was doing and runs to his rescue, and manages to heave him up. The boat draws terrifyingly near. At the last moment, Jade manages to restore the power. The lighthouse lights. The ship barely scrapes by the island. Black.
Home:
The next morning, Jade sits at the edge of the cliff and watches the sea. A child comes up to her, shouting: “Jade! Jade! You have to come see Unca’ Pey’j in his workshop! He’s got a package for you!”
Jade goes to see Pey’j in his workshop. She receives an MDisk from a certain Mr. Hahn. He is offering her a photography mission on the Black Isle—it is very dangerous, but will pay very well. This is a chance for Jade to use her talents as a photographer, and especially, to earn some money to feed the children. (Jade and her uncle Pey’j are raising on the island a small group of children, whose parents mysteriously disappeared.) After making some preparations (retrieving her camera, recharging the hovercraft’s batteries), she is ready to meet with Mr. Hahn on the Black Isle.
Island Dungeon: First Contact with SPOON
Mr. Hahn’s driver is waiting for them in a small cove. Behind him is a large, black limousine, the radio inside constantly broadcasting the latest fluctuations in the stock market. The island is an old, abandoned mine, since invaded by all sorts of creatures. The driver explains that his boss, Mr. Hahn, very badly wants a picture of the pair of ECHIUREA that live deep in the cave. Jade and Pey’j enter the mine. They make it to the bottom floor and photograph the animals in question. But the two “ECHIUREA” are, in fact, growths on the eyes of an enormous monster. Fight! Jade and Pey’j beat the monster back into the depths of the cave!
The ceiling of the cave opens, and the limousine descends. Apologetically, the chauffeur explains that this was all just a test for them. As he brings them back to their hovercraft, he tells them of SPOON, the ideas they defend, and the doubts they have about the official propaganda. He asks Jade to join their cause. If she accepts, then she should go to the Paradise Bar (in the city outskirts) and meet a member of SPOON named “Peepers.” Taking his leave, the driver removes his disguise: He takes off his fake mustache, and a kick in the side transforms his limo into a common taxi cab.
“Discretion is our motto. And remember: ‘SAFE AND SOUND IN ITS SHELL, THE PRECIOUS PEARL IS THE SLAVE OF THE CURRENTS.” (This is the password that members of SPOON use; Jade can now use it to prove she’s a member of their group.)
City Outskirts
Despite Pey’j’s reticence, Jade decides to join SPOON. She meets up with “Peepers,” an old blind man who runs a three-cup Monte game at the Paradise Bar. He gives her an MDisk which contains the instructions for her first mission. “OBJECTIVE: Resume the mission that Double H was undertaking when he was caught by the Alpha Sections. Thanks to Double H’s photographs, we have been able to identify the mysterious black boxes that pass through the city on the way to the factory. They are on board the cruisers that dock at the factory, and leave daily for outer space.
Through thorough investigation of the factory, Jade also learns a little bit more about the situation in Hyllis. A large recruitment campaign is in place. The DomZ, a bloodthirsty extrahyllian race, are preparing a massive attack on the planet. Fortunately, Hyllis made a pact with another people, the Nazh. They have generously supplied Hyllis with massive quantities of energy (from Materia) so that Hyllis may prepare for the war. But SPOON suspects that this is not the truth, and searches for proof.
After a few more preparations (getting an access card for the edge of the city, and equipping the hovercraft with a protective shield), Jade enters the factory through the same pipe that carries the cases.
Warehouse Report: The First Mission
Jade and Pey’j infiltrate the old factory. Jade finds Double H trapped in a strange, cocoon-like thing of extra-hyllian origin, while he is undergoing a terrible brainwashing. She saves his life. While he has not yet recovered all of his wits, he is now indebted to Jade and decides to serve her. After they arrive on the first floor, where the bulk of the case traffic takes place, Pey’j, realizing how dangerous the mission is, hands Jade an MDisk containing very precious information. Shortly after, he is attacked by Alpha Sections who knock him out and abduct him. At the same time, she completes a decisive report that jeopardizes the military forces in the factory. With the support of her photographs, she proves that the cases SUPPOSEDLY bringing food into space also contain the mysterious black boxes. Black boxes whose content yet remains unknown. But Jade see Pey’j be confined to one of these boxes and loaded onto a cruiser. She suspects that the Alpha Sections have set up a base for terrible human traffic. Jade swears to rescue Pey’j, whatever it takes. She has so few clues… All that remains of her companion are the MDisk he gave her in the factory, and his shoes, which she found after he was taken. She also knows that the cruiser was leaving for a military base on the moon.
In a Cloister
There is a conversation between two senior officials: The Chief of the Alpha Sections, and a priest of the Nazh, sent to Hyllis to make sure their “recruitment” goes smoothly. They speak of SPOON’s latest reporter. Concerned about her impact on public opinion, the military leader suggests temporarily putting a stop to the shipments to the moon. For the priest, there is no question: The shipments should not be interrupted under any circumstances. As for Jade, he says, she doesn’t pose any real danger. “Let the little butterfly be. She’ll burn her wings on us before too long.”
Home
Back home, Jade reads the MDisk that Pey’j gave her. To her surprise, she learns that Pey’j has long been a part of SPOON, and that he quietly tinkered with a spaceship in a secret corner of the hangar. Thanks to the MDisk and Pey’j shoes (which contain the code to open it), Jade successfully opens the immense door camouflaged in the rocks and recovers the vessel. It already works; Jade can now travel the planet. But it does little to help her LEAVE the planet (to go to the moon). Nobody even gets into the Hyllian atmosphere without official authorization. Jade’s ship is systematically blocked by the military’s customs barriers.
Jade receives an e-mail from SPOON. It is a cry for help! They were surprised by the Alpha Sections during one of their secret meetings, aboard a huge air-purification plant that regularly travels the skies above Hyllis. They are being held prisoner by a powerful magnetic field, generated by three military ships situated directly below. Jade comes to the rescue with her ship, and deactivates the magnetic field by destroying the generators onboard the ships. However, this does not prevent the ship’s turrets from destroying the Air Station’s supports, sending it tumbling into the ocean. The members of SPOON manage to reach their ship at the last second (it was moored at the entrance), and ask Jade via radio to retreat with them to another, safer base. Suddenly, a new magnetic field springs up around the two ships, generated by four shuttles the Alpha Sections called in as reinforcements. Jade and SPOON must win a 2-on-4 dogfight in order to free the base.
Airborne Station
Jade then follows her allies to their ultra-secret base (an island very far from the city). The only damper on the general joy: The chief of SPOON (whom no one knows the exact physical appearance of, since he attended meetings through means of a transmitter placed on the table) hasn’t sent any news in the last few days. Jade is given a new accessory for her hovercraft: A special skirt which allows it to jump. (She has it installed at the house of a mechanic member of SPOON.) SPOON was able to match the information in Jade’s first report with other sources. The cases seem to be arriving in the ancient abattoirs of the city. This is where Jade will conduct her second survey. She must find a way to infiltrate the Slaughterhouse District, also heavily guarded by the military. Fortunately, her first report has had several positive consequences: Many citizens have joined SPOON, and among them is a member of the Slaughterhouse’s maintenance department. They are willing to help SPOON infiltrate the sector. On the other hand, SPOON received an ultra-confidential contact from a certain Colonel Garis, senior official of extra-hyllian customs. He is with the regular army, and was touched by Jade’s report about the actions of the Alpha Sections at the factory. He is willing to take enormous risks to aid Jade in leaving Hyllis. (She could gain access to the lunar base.) But only if her story is absolutely the truth, and she needs further proof.
City Outskirts
Through investigation in the residential areas, Jade learns the existence of a secret hovercraft racing tournament. One of the racecourses is right around the corner from the Slaughterhouse District. Jade must find a way to join these races, but it’s a very private club. It’s impossible to get a license without knowing the drivers’ secret code. At the Paradise Bar, two regulars like to study the plans for the racecourses (which include the code), but they do not let Jade come near. She must obtain a zoom for her camera in order to read the race code from a distance. To get the zoom, she must meet up with an old collector of rare animal photographs, who will give up his own zoom in exchange for some pictures of the animal in question. Jade observes the code and registers for the races. She must qualify in successive matches in order to climb her way to the championship. The third course is the one that intersects the Slaughterhouse. Jade takes off, but leaves the circuit during the race through a hidden entrance.
Slaughterhouse Report: Backtracking
Jade soon meets with SPOON’s contact, a not-especially-friendly character who opens a gate for them. He is also willing to try to help them further in fighting the military. Jade and Double H discover and photograph the horrible truth: Dozens of victims are captured, drugged, locked in the boxes, transported into the factory through the pipe, and then shipped on the cruiser to the moon. This explains why there have been so many disappearances lately. Jade is persuaded to capture enough evidence to swing public opinion and reestablish the truth. Jade’s report is disseminated (though MDisks on sale in the marketplace and posters plastered around town).
The Government’s Response
But the Hyllian government manages to turn the situation to its advantage by “demonstrating” that SPOON’s supposed report is fabricated, and that Jade and Double H are dangerous terrorists. Since the factory report, they had suspected that SPOON would find their way to the factory, so they lied in wait to prepare a counter-report: -Photos of Jade in the prohibited area -Documents proving that Double H is a deserter, traitor, and coward -Them in the process of opening* the gate -Counter-photos “proving” that Jade doctored her evidence -An “exclusive testimony” from the maintenance department employee, in which he claims to have been beaten by SPOON: “It was sick; they tried to kill me!” There’s a price on Jade and Double H’s heads, and flyers declaring it are pasted on every wall in the city. It becomes difficult to move without being attacked, either by passerby and soldiers on foot, by the military speedcraft in the hovercraft, or by the Alpha Section airships in the spaceship.
Uptown
SPOON still needs to prove their assertions. They must send Jade and Double H to push their investigation to the end: The moon. Jade and Double H will go there, photograph the actions of the Alpha Sections and the Nazh, and then try to broadcast their report on the official propaganda screens via the massive communications satellite. Col. Garis has read the report on the slaughterhouses, and found the evidence certain enough. He is ready to meet with Jade and help her. Every evening, on top of a tower in the city, there is an outdoor reception that brings together all the haute dignitaries of Hyllis. Henceforth, Col. Garis will go there every evening. Jade must find a way to attend. (Not just anyone can get in.)
There are, in town, game halls filled with virtual-reality games, popular with the lower and middle classes. In one of them, a new attraction just opened. Those who beat the record set by the developers win an official invitation to the famous reception, to meet them. Jade beats the record, goes to the party, and meets with Col. Garis. He gives her a transport code, so that she may decline to go through customs.
The Moon: Revealing the Truth to All the World
Thanks to the code, Jade’s ship passes unencumbered through customs, and discreetly follows behind the Alpha cruiser until it lands in the lunar base. She discovers, moored on the landing platform, a gigantic Nazh spaceship-cocoon (semi-technological, semi-biological) connected to the outside through numerous semi-organic tubes. The Alpha Section cruiser came in and plugged into the pod to recharge. Jade can observe the entire process. The kidnapping victims are imprisoned by the hundreds, and undergo psychological conditioning. Several Nazh priests oversee it. A sprawling, viscous excrescence swells on the prisoner’s heads, usurping their will and transforming them into killing machines under control of the Nazh. Then they are sent through a portal door in the very bottom of the Nazh cocoon-ship (presumably, a direct link to the Nazh planet). Jade rescues Toy’l, a strange prisoner of an unknown race. He is a DomZ. He reveals that his people are not nearly as bloodthirsty as the Hyllian propaganda would have you believe. Moreover, he knows Jade’s parents, and he even met Jade herself when she was a baby. He reveals to her a power of which she was unaware. She can—only in the presence of Toy’l, for now—generate a psy-field barrier to protect herself. Jade finds and rescues Pey’j, who was under high surveillance at the top of the cocoon-ship. He, too, is disfigured by the black, tumor-like growths inflicted by the Nazh priests. Toy’l will cure Pey’j. Jade then learns that Pey’j is, in fact, the chief of SPOON. Then, they must vanish, and make their way to the satellite to disperse their report.
Satellite
Jade, Double H, Pey’j and Toy’l storm the satellite, and their report fills the airwaves. Their photographs of the truth appear on every official propaganda screen. Learning this, the military responds by remotely bringing the satellite back to the lunar base. Jade and her companions do not have time to react, and they find themselves once again on the moon. A group of guards in black awaits them at the exit to the satellite.
Lunar Keep
Jade succeeds in vanquishing the guards. Later, after reversing the engine of the conveyor belt that brings victims to the portal, she manages to bring them back. The priests of the Nazh feel the winds of change taking flight. The enormous spaceship-cocoon struggles against the pull of lunar gravity and breaks free. Before leaving, they carefully trigger the countdown sequence for the complete destruction of the lunar base. Buildings explode everywhere. Jade and her companions are forced to abandon their ship and escape on the cruiser, with all the prisoners on board who were brought back thanks to the treadmill. They manage to squeeze between the large sections of rock and ice, which give way on all sides, and escape the collapsing crater.
Epilogue
Everyone returns to Hyllis, and Toy’l heals the unfortunates who fell into the hands of the priests. Many of the orphans on the island are reunited with their parents.
The Nazh leave, the Alpha Sections dissolve, and Hyllis appears to be saved.
But Toy’l the DomZ is very worried for his people. And again, hundreds of Hyllians are still trapped in the hands of the Nazh. Pey’j feels about right, but he suffered particularly violent treatment from the Nazh, and he still has a funny black spot—right where his Nazh tumor used to be.